That Which We Hold Dear
by lvonfan
Summary: Jonas's past comes back to haunt him, and it's wrapped in the disguise of a long lost family member. Will he be able to accept the truth of who he truly is in time to prevent the destruction of his new life on earth?
1. Chapter 1

"What's happening Lieutenant?" The general asked making sure to be heard above the alarms that signaled an unscheduled off-world activation.

"Sir we are receiving an incoming message from P2S-4C3" The communications officer responded.

"Langara? I thought they destroyed their gate?" Sam commented slightly out of breath from her rush up to the control room.

"Langara as in Kelowna? As in, "we want to blow ourselves to hell" Kelowna? Did someone want to get Jonas?" Jack asked from behind her.

"He is off world sir, on P2X-567, till 18:00" Sam responded.

General Hammond looked to the Lieutenant manning the helm. "Who is exactly is calling?"

"It's First Minister Valis's, IDC, sir."

"Well let's see what he has to say, open a channel but keep the iris closed. We have no way of knowing what this is about."

There was static and a woman appeared onscreen, hard to make out through the grainy feed. "Hello, are you receiving me?" the woman asked a sense of desperation and urgency in her voice.

"We are receiving you. Where is First Minister Valis?" The general asked the obvious, concerned about a new face using the restricted IDC code.

"First Minister Valis was killed in an attempt to regain contact with earth, and I was his contingency plan." She said quickly and then with more urgency, asked, "Please I need to speak with Jonas Quinn."

Teal's raised an eyebrow inquisitively at the request and the General responded. "Jonas Quinn is not available, please state your reason for contacting earth."

"I would like to request asylum." The woman said in desperation. Somewhere in the background of the video feed an annoying beeping started the woman's shifted from the screen for a moment assumedly to attend to the noise.

"Is there anyone from the Council available to speak to us." the General questioned.

"There is no-one. There is no council. Please . . . "

The general broke in, knowing he could not realistically allow an unknown alien on the base without a solid defense to the joint chiefs. "I am sorry, but without further information and a very good reason for this contact we cannot harbor you."

The woman pressed on, ignoring his disavowal. "You don't understand. I must speak to Jonas Quinn!"

"Exactly what information do you need to deliver?" The general asked searching for a reason to aid her in her obvious distress.

"I have important information about a weapon that could help defend your world."

"Yeah, we know about your Naquadria bomb and we aren't interested." Colonel Oneill spoke out.

The woman sighed, "The information I carry has NOTHING to do with Naquadria, but I have little time and I have to speak Jonas."

Sam looked at Jack who raised his eyebrows at the woman's proclamation.

"Please, I will share my information with I only ask that you allow me to speak with Jonas Quinn . . . he . . . he is my brother." She revealed to the surprise of the listening party.

"Well, I did not see that one coming." Jack said looking to the general.

_SGC 18:23, Outside the Infirmary._

"Jonas." Sam said grabbing the young man's arm as he left the infirmary.

"Hey Sam," Jonas greeted with her with a smile, but, noticing her grim face, knitted his brow. Is something wrong? Does it have anything to do with why my post mission briefing was just canceled?" Jonas asked tossing a look over his shoulder at the starring airmen they passed in the hall on their way to the briefing room.

"Something came up," Sam said vaguely as she urged him on. Reaching the briefing room doors, she pushed them open allowing Jonas to enter first. In the briefing room Jack, Teal'c and the General were sitting at the mahogany table deep in discussion. Whatever the topic of conversation it ended abruptly at their entrance.

Jack spoke first. "Ah Jonas. Your folks called."

Jonas about to grab a seat lingered for a moment, confused.

"Mr. Quinn, please take a seat." The general directed, taking command of the conversation, noting his second in command's, uncanny ability to over simplify complicated matters. As soon as Jonas took his seat the General re-started where Colonel O'Neill had left off. "Son, two hours ago we received communication from your home planet."

"Kelowna?" he asked somewhat stunned at the revelation.

Jonas looked to Sam, "I don't understand, what about the war?" he asked in confusion.

"From what we understand, the war is close to an end . . ." Sam said responded simply.

"Wh . . ." Jonas began but the general interrupted him, before the curious alien could saturate them with questions.

"Son," The general continued firmly but gently. "I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but from the Intel provided, the ruling council of Kelowna is no longer; Langara is in all out war." He saw Jonas's clinch his jaw preparing for the general to finish what was already the start of a bad story. "Evidently a year ago they proceeded against all advisement to create weapons of mass destruction and since then, over 40% of the planets major cities have been destroyed."

Jonas attempt to steel himself against the news wasn't enough, horrified at what he'd just been told he rested his head in his hands. Recognizing his dismay, the general was silent for moment, trying to give Jonas time to absorb the information. Raising his head, Jonas spoke first.

"Who . . .what is left?" he said his voice grave, tinged with an unreadable emotion.

"While we prepared that there might be a fallout with the governing bodies, the war has surpassed all of our estimates. Of the warring factions few remain standing––in short Kelowna as we know it, soon may not exist. I'm sorry Jonas." He paused for moment and silence engulfed the room.

The general continued, his words soft but deliberate. "Jonas, I'm afraid to say that the joint chiefs made a decision not to interfere in war this far advanced, and have determined our best course of action is to cut all connection with your home planet."

The news was terrible and everyone knew they could not imagine what devastation Jonas might be feeling. Discovering that your home was self-destructing was bad enough, but knowing that and realizing that the people you knew to accomplish the impossible most days, would not take any action to stop it had to be heart wrenching.

The room was silent as the team sadly watched their friend absorb the information that his home world was essentially lost, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Jonas's mind whirled. Ultimately he had always known this was a possibility, but he could never fully crush his hope for reconciliation between his countrymen. He had always hoped; in even in his fear. But now his fear had become the reality. So many emotions enveloped him; he couldn't decide which ones to hang on to. His warring conscious made it easier to push aside his feelings and focus on the facts. There was still a question that remained to be asked.

"Was anyone saved?"

"The person who contacted us was one of the last remaining who knew of the connection to earth, she negotiated her asylum here, in exchange for the destruction of Kelowna's Stargate." Teal'c replied, even his normally monotone delivery, revealing compassion for his friend.

'Only one person? One, out of millions of lives?' These thoughts spun in his brain mixed with memories and the faces of people he knew. He suddenly felt sick.

"Jonas, I know this is all very difficult but there is something else, you need to be aware of." The general spoke out breaking the heaviness of the room. "Jonas, the person who contacted us, claims that she is your sister."

Jonas looked up bewilderment in his eyes. "What?" he said his voice sounded stretched. It was all too much to take in. He felt himself start to go numb, but this latest revelation helped him keep a grip on his senses.

Sam put hand on Jonas arm and softly interjected. "She said her name was Aeron Quinn."

"That's impossible. My sister died when we were kids." He said with conviction.

For most in the room, they too were surprised when they had first heard the woman's declaration. As far as they new Jonas was an orphan with no family, a fact that had made his transition to earth that much easier. They had never asked beyond that, all except Sam. She knew. The story of his sister's death was something Jonas had shared with her before he had gone into delicate brain surgery only a few months ago. He had divulged the story to Sam, to remove the burden, should his surgery have failed. Her knowledge of his sister's existence was a fact that had helped the recent refugee gain tentative trust, only a few hours ago. Still hearing it directly from Jonas, the team each realized how little they really new about their alien companion.

"Yes, Major Carter confirmed that when we first made contact with . . . Miss. Quinn." Jonas glanced at Sam, who returned a look of apology for her need to reveal such a private secret.

"That's why we need you to verify her claim. She says that she can explain everything but will only do so after she has spoken you." The General finished.

Jonas was lost in the mix of emotions he felt, struggling to keep a steady outward exterior. He didn't really believe that she could be alive but he had to know for sure. "I want to see her."

The General nodded. "Very well, she is in holding cell 12."

_SGC 19:49, Outside Holding cell 12_

The team walked the hall to the holding area, in silence. No one knew what was going on in Jonas's head as he walked with them. It felt somehow intrusive; Jonas preferred to deal with his pain privately, something the team understood and respected never probing into his silent past. Yet it was unspoken that even if he'd asked they wouldn't now leave his side. Instead they followed him, sentinels to whatever pain might be shortly revealed.

They reached the door that lead to the viewing area for Cell 12.

Jonas entered first walking directly to the large one-way mirror that predominately decorated the room.

It only took a look through that window, and he knew without a doubt. He couldn't believe it, it had been 20 years but she was unmistakably Aeron. Jonas felt a strong hand grab his arm and realized he must have swayed in the shock. He instantly straightened not willing to show such weakness in front of people he so admired for their strength.

"Jonas?" Sam asked with concern as she watched his face pale.

"I'm fine." He affirmed, and then in a voice mixed with fear and awe he said; "It's . . . her."

"Jonas, are you sure? It's been along time." Jack asked eyeing the figure sitting alone in the room.

"I don't know how I know, but I know. It's her, there is no mistake." Jonas confirmed with amazement.

He starred at her transfixed by what seemed an apparition. Dark wavy hair, worn the same way he remembered as a little girl, rolled around the crown and pulled loosely to the side in a ponytail. She was still slight in figure, and her eyes were the same honeyed brown, but the fear that he so poignantly remembered lingering in them had disappeared, replaced by an indecipherable emotion.

The room was quiet for a moment. "She doesn't even look like you." Jack couldn't help but say his distrust of the unknown getting the better of him.

Jonas didn't say anything. It was true that she was a contrast to him his hair a sandy blonde and his eyes green. But as he looked at her through is own reflection on the glass he saw the similarities the colonel missed. Aside from gender and pigment differences they could be twins. Looking beyond her appearance Jonas shifted trying to understand what seemed to be an apparition in front of him. Aeron unaware of his study, sat as if lost in thought subconsciously tapping on the arm of the chair she sat on. She started to hum softly, the melody coming through the hidden speakers into their viewing area.

"I know that song . . . " Jonas began to say when the figure in the room abruptly went silent and looking up. She focused her gaze eerily at him, more accurately she looked directly into Jonas's eyes as if acknowledging his presence.

"Jonas?" she called out into the empty room.

Spooked, the team exchanged glances, startled by her exclamation, there was no way she could see any of them. Still Jack felt compelled to ask no one in particular. "She can't see us right?"

Jonas backed away from the window, and turned to the General. "I'd like to see her please."

The general nodded his head to the MP, who shifted indicating Jonas was to follow him into the other room. Jack and Teal'c started to follow but Jonas turned and said, "Just me please?"

Understanding they held back and watched behind the glass as he entered the cell alone.

Aeron stood as Jonas entered. They were both silent for moment barely a 3 feet from one another. Aeron was the first speak.

"You look . . . tall." She said breaking the silence.

Jonas didn't respond, instead he took a step forward and engulfed her in an embrace. She was stiff in shock at first not expecting his reaction but quickly adjusted to it.

"I thought you were dead." He said into her hair. Tears stung his eyes and blinked ferociously to hold them back.

"I know." She replied softly and then followed with "I'm not." and softly laughed.

_SGC 19:49, Inside Holding cell 12_

A few minutes later Jonas sat across from the newcomer from Kelowna the woman who claimed to be his sister. Their similarities were undeniable, same smile and facial structure even some of their mannerisms weirdly mirrored one another, yet she stood as a contrast to him. Her dark hair and eyes created a definite distinction, like two different sides of the same coin.

"What happened?" Jonas asked hesitantly, his question probing into a past that he didn't wish to recall.

"You really don't remember?" Aeron asked with a mix of surprise and relief. Aeron seemed ready for the question. "After the shelling I don't remember much. I guess I was pretty badly hurt." Jonas shifted in his chair guilt building in his chest. "I woke up 2 months after the accident."

At the mention of 'the accident' Jonas's face paled a bit. "They told me you had died." He explained, painfully.

Aeron reached across the table, and laid her hand on his. "I don't know why they told you that. All I know is that shortly after you left me there; Tiranian fighters overtook the camp. One of the Tiranians's was a doctor he took me under his care. By the time I had come back to my senses I was in Alespian, thousands of miles away. They told me that whole area had been destroyed in the attack. I was the only survivor and I thought _you_ were among the dead." She explained.

"Aerie, if I had known . . . " he said trying to explain what seemed like abandonment.

She was surprised at his use of her childhood pet name. Yet it made sense, as he was the only one who had ever used it. "Jonas, no. You did your best, you carried me 10 miles to that encampment and you were wounded as well, don't forget." Aeron protested.

Jonas wanted to forget, it was his darkest memory. So he diverted the conversation. ''I just can't believe that you're here." He said sincerely.

"I know." She replied smiling.

"When did you realize I was alive? How did you find me?" he asked his natural curiosity overcoming his other emotions.

She shifted back in her seat and the emotion in her voice flattened almost imperceptibly. "That is a long story, the gist of it is, about 5 years ago, I saw your face in a piece of Intel we attained from Langara and I have been trying to find you since."

Jonas pressed for more information. "So you had been living as an Tiranian? How did you get to the stargate?"

"I devoted all my time trying to find you, I masked my search by also gaining information on Andari and Kelownan secrets. I became Tiranian spy. And that's what led me to find out about the portal and . . ." she broke off shame in her eyes.

"What?" he probed gently sensing her discomfort.

"I'm afraid my research also may have been what caused the war to escalate." Watching the look in his eyes she quickly defended herself. "I saw the Tiranian forces do terrible things to the Kelownan's and I knew it was my own people they were attacking I knew I was on the wrong side, but it was too late, I had already delivered the information on how to create the Naquadria Bomb. They took the stargate and bombed Kelowna the fallout was beyond belief . . . I can't begin to describe the devastation." She paused and looked down, a moment passed and she continued. "After the slaughter I turned against my superiors. With the help of First Minister Valis who had escaped with a small band of Kelownan scientists we worked to re-establish a connection with earth by reconstructing the stolen stargate underground. A day ago we were found out and most of our contingent was killed, Valis sacrificed himself so that I could have a chance. He said, you were the only Langaran that saw this coming and that cared enough to try and stop it, and that if anyone deserved to have a chance at reclaiming a lost life it was you."

Jonas sat mutely. Starring at her he saw the guilt and regret in her eyes. He understood how she felt more than she realized; he also knew that if anyone's research was to blame for impending destruction of Kelowna it was his.

He looked her in the eyes. "Langara?" he asked with some hesitancy, knowing it was going to be bad news.

"There was no saving it Jonas. We have been fighting for generations; no one really knew the reason why anymore, it was just how we lived." She said with finality and continued with hardness in her tone that hinted at some darker place. "The Langara you know is gone."

_SGC 21:15 MST, Holding cell 12_

After an hour Jonas left to finish his post mission briefing. Aeron was given the second half of the "welcome to earth, here's what you should know." run down They did their best to pull information about the weapon out of her but she feigned exhaustion and promised to follow up with the as soon as she was able to rest, they were easy to manipulate but still after everything was over she found actually was exhausted.

Lying down on the bed in the locked room to which she had been assigned she thought over the events of the day. It had been 5 years of waiting of searching and she had finally found him. He was just as sensitive and caring, as he had always been and somewhere deep down she felt tiny spark of regret for what was going to happen to him. But, she reminded herself; he was already dead to her. No matter what memories he might make her recall she did not know him. She was honestly surprised he didn't remember their past even though he remembered enough to recognize her. She could tell he was oblivious to his, no, their origin. He wouldn't be held as such an ordinary being amongst these people if he had. That was good it would be easier without him fighting her, but she would have to be very careful.

_SGC 21:15 MST, The Briefing room _

After his post mission briefing with SG-6 the General asked Jonas to stay behind instead of leaving with the other soldiers. Dr Frasier joined them after the last SG member left the room.

"Jonas, I have recommended to general Hammond to put SG-1 on stand down for the next week. The information received today I'm certain is very difficult for you right now and . . ."

"I really don't see why all of SG-1 has to stand down because of . . . recent events." Jonas said his voice flat. His mind finally succumbing to the encroaching numbness he felt earlier.

"Jonas, SG-1's investment in Kelowna and in you, has made this news hard for them as well." Janet continued.

Although she hadn't meant it this way Jonas realized one of the 'investments' they made was the loss of their teammate Daniel Jackson, who had sacrificed his life for what Jonas now knew was a doomed race. Jonas couldn't help but feel the guilt of the archeologist death resurge and add to his already heavy emotions. He had enabled his race to kill itself; ignorance wasn't a good enough excuse anymore. The blood on his hands was heavy and he knew he couldn't ever clean it away.

Janet was still talking but Jonas tuned her out his thoughts drifting to another scientist, a brilliant mind that had been so consumed with the excellence of his work he did not realize the weight of his actions until it was to late. A man, who, in the midst of his realization of the destruction he had caused, had coined it perfectly, "I have become death, destroyer of worlds." Langara's development of the Naquadria Bomb wasn't so different from Earth's own A-bomb during World War II, and Jonas had often searched out information on the era hoping to find some similarity or correlation that would help keep his own people from what seemed like self-inflicted annihilation. But Jonas instead found himself again and again relating himself to J. Robert Oppenheimer who had tried so desperately to unfurl the unexpected evil he had unleashed into his world.

Jonas now realized, that Oppenheimer had wasted his breath, that there was no going back. The earth scientist may have enabled his people to destroy cities but Jonas had aided in the destruction of an entire world and because of that Jonas now knew by experience, that the day a doomsday weapon is invented, it is already to late to prevent the coming doomsday.

"Jonas . . . Jonas." Janet said trying to get the drifting man's attention. Jonas snapped from his reverie and Janet shared a concerned glance with the general.

"Jonas, I am putting you on mandatory down time and I would like you to report to Dr. Hunter at 08:00 tomorrow. After that please visit to the infirmary. There are some tests I need to run on you and Miss Quinn."

"I understand." He said without feeling.

"Jonas, I am asking that you get some needed rest it's been a long day, son." The General added.

Jonas just nodded and excused himself, his heart heavy in his chest.

_SGC 21:15 MST, Sam's lab _

"Hey what do you say we go get some pie," Jack said from the doorway Teal'c standing tall behind him.

"No thanks sir, I want to get some of this paperwork done." Carter replied not looking up from her work.

"Carter you have all week to do that stuff." Jack whined.

Carter put down her pen and sighed. "I don't know sir, it just seems so . . ."

"Filling?" Jack interjected

"No . . ."

"Fattening?" he asked?

"No."

"Filled with preservatives and delicious high fructose corn syrup."

"No, sir." Sam said with slight annoyance at his ridiculousness. "What I mean is something isn't right."

Jack finally addressed the subject he was trying to avoid discussing with her. "Well, lets seeeee. Jonas's world has gone down the tubes, which, I predicted by the way, and he found his sister. I know it's tough but hey, at least he's got family to help him through it."

"It is difficult to understand why a world that held such potential could not rise above their draw to consume." Teal'c interjected thoughtfully, ignoring his commander ambivalence.

"It's not just that, though." Sam continued, "Yes I'm upset that Kelowna couldn't overcome, but there is something else that bothers me. I think it's Aeron, there is something about her, I just can't put my finger on it."

"Well, Carter we don't know anything about her . . . and she was dead. That's enough to put her in my 'aliens we should not trust category.

"Major Carter can you relay to us what you know of Aeron." Teal'c asked enquiringly.

"I honestly don't know very much. I think Jonas is going to have to tell us himself after he . . . processes all this."

Jack and Teal'c looked at her.

"Listen, when Jonas was experiencing his 'visions', after he knew he would have to have surgery he came to me. He told me he knew his chances . . . and he needed someone to carry a burden of his, just in case. I don't think he would have told me anything if he hadn't thought . . . there was a chance he might die."

"I agree with you Carter, she seems a little . . . off. The only reason I want to know what happened is to make sure she isn't hiding something. Jonas aside, the Kelownans haven't really set the example for being the most upfront about their actual intentions."

"Perhaps we should question Aeron Quinn, and determine her reason for contacting Jonas Quinn." Teal'c suggested.

"You mean besides the fact that they are family?" Sam remarked.

"I mean it just seems too convenient." The colonel declared.

The three friends silently agreed.

_SGC 21:15 MST, Jonas's Quarters _

_He woke in alarm and his body screamed at the movement. His ears rang incessantly and the shrill noise threatened to overcome his shaken senses. He closed his eyes trying to fight the pain that encompassed his body. Opening them again he attempted to orient himself._

The scene before him was apocalyptic. As far as the eye could see the rubble of once solid structures laid haphazardly strewn, abstract monuments to appalling destruction. Around him smoke curled from the wreckage toward a newly risen sun Jonas squinted against the acrid smoke and light, trying to understand the horrific images in front of him. With each coherent moment he felt new pains, shifting his gaze from the landscape he surveyed his body. There were numerous cuts and abrasions on his skin and his clothing, singed, torn and covered here and there with blood and earth. Something dripped into his eye and he reached to wipe it, but cried out suddenly, at the unexpected pain that came with the contact to his brow. He pulled his hand away, looking at it he saw blood and realized he must have hit his head.

Unexpectedly through the relentless shrill in his head he heard another sound not far away.

"_Jonas."_

_Someone was calling to him. Slowly he worked to get his footing using the nearby piece of rubble he pulled himself into a standing position. He found that he could stand with little trouble and pushed away from his makeshift aid. With his new vantage, the true impact of the destruction around him became clear. Bodies lay strewn amongst the debris, each lying in the position in which they perished, their condition too horrible to describe. Jonas's stomach rebelled at the site before him and he retched on the ground below him._

"Jonas, help."

_At the sound of the voice Jonas refocused himself, steeling his mind against the horrors around him he searched the refuse, for the voice. "Where are you?" He croaked his voice unnatural to his ears._

"_Here." Came a gasp. And from a few meters away Jonas saw a small feminine hand rise from behind a fallen beam. Forgetting his own hurts he rushed to the wounded girl. The beam lay atop her small frame._

Jonas could not tell from his vantage how badly she was hurt but he knew it must be bad. The girl was so small; her brown eyes stared up at in him in pain and fear. "Please Jonas, it hurts." She struggled out, trying pitifully to push the large piece of wood from her body.

"Don't move." He ordered.

Quickly Jonas surveyed the situation. The beam was twice the size of his body and it looked heavy. Inwardly he knew it might be impossible for him, only a child, to lift it. But looking around he knew there were no other survivors to assist him. Another thought sprang into his mind and after a few minutes he had gathered what he needed from the surrounding rubble.

"Aeron," the name came without a thought, and with it the knowledge of whom she was. "Aeron, I am going to get this off of you but it may hurt for a minute, okay?"

"Okay" his sister responded feebly.

_With her acknowledgement he swiftly went to work fashioning rudimentary leverage to aid in his near impossible task. Jonas put all his weight on the lever willing the beam to shift aside, he grunted with the strain and effort. After what seemed like an eternity the beam finally moved, prompting a shattered scream from the prone figure under it. Jonas stumbled, immediately rushing to aid his newly freed sibling. Blood pooled from her stomach, and Jonas fought his instant need to vomit at the sight. Instead he pulled his torn shirt from his back, and quickly pressed against the oozing wound. Aeron didn't cry out this time and Jonas's eyes quickly jumped to the girls face. She seemed be asleep, but fear seized the boy's heart and he pressed two shaking blood slicked fingers against her neck. An irregular pulse meet his touch and he bit back a cry of relief at its appearance. He realized she must have passed out._

Looking around he saw no one but fear broke a cry from his mouth. "HELP! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP US!" He called, his voice echoing back to him. Instinctually he knew it was to no avail, they were ultimately alone. Tears welled in his eyes; his desperation was shifting to hopelessness. He knew his sister's life hung by a thread and he did not know how to help her. He tried to imagine what it would be like watching her die, tried to prepare for the inevitable, but he could not bring himself to the thought. A resolution began to form in his mind. As long as he lived so would she. Silently he re-fashioned his shirt into a makeshift bandage, and then, gingerly lifting her small body, cradling it against his own, he began his journey.

Jonas opened his eyes.

In Jonas's direct line of vision, Poseidon the little fish he had adopted from Daniel swam lazily in his tank. He blinked the sleep from his eyes, a re-oriented his mind into a conscious state. It had been two days since Aeron had arrived through the gate and every night he found he dreamed in memory. The memory seemed to be lingering, haunting him every time he closed his eyes. Jonas sighed and shifted from his side to his back. He never really thought about that terrible day after it had ended. But now with his dream so fresh and real in his minds eye he felt himself drift back into memory.

_By the time he had found help miles away he feared it had come to late. Aeron's breathing was so shallow it was almost imperceptible. The men had pulled her from him and merely an hour later, returned to tell him her terrible fate. They proceed to ask him questions. At the request for his name he gave it numbly. They asked where he was from, what had happened, where his family was. He found he had no answers for these questions, his mind blank, those memories all lost to him. And he looked at the men bewildered._

Another man with a kind face asked who his family was. The question made him think of Aeron her slack body against his, and he began to cry, unabashedly. The man had shushed him gently and pulled him into an embrace. As he held him Jonas remembered the man saying "nevermind, nevermind, my name is Dr. Keiran and you will be safe with me now."

Jonas had never looked back. He left with Dr. Kieran that very night letting his broken and unknown past become nothing more than a nightmare that occasionally haunted his dreams. As the years passed Dr. Kieran raised him as his own. He praised the boys' uncanny skills and unbelievable tenacity to learn, sending him to the best learning institutions in Kelowna. Jonas never struggled academically but as a boy he found it very difficult to connect with the other children in his classes. He never stopped trying to connect to those around him, but eventually his loneliness became too much and in order to lessen it's hold he drove himself further into his studies and to his mentors glee, it aided Jonas in attaining great political positions as he grew.

The more Jonas thought about it he had never really lived before coming to Earth. Life had been a pursuit; it had been an escape. He realized that he spent most of his life running from his past. Since he had come to earth literally new worlds had opened to him, but more than that, his life finally meant something. People here, didn't revere him for his unnerving ability to learn, they cared for him as a person and shared their own experiences with him. He had never had that before. The thought made Jonas realize that he didn't even remember experiencing that with Aeron. He knew they must have shared things had good moments, but he couldn't remember them.

Suddenly a knock came at his door Jonas sat up and scrubbed his hands across his face sweeping the sleep from his eyes. "Come in." Jonas called doing a quick check of his uniform to make sure it was in a somewhat acceptable state.

"Hey Jonas." It was Major Carter.

"Sorry to wake you," She apologized, "I thought you might want to know that Aeron has been asking to see you."

"Has she been cleared?" It was protocol to have any unknown alien entity be detained and thoroughly questioned by an SGC intelligence officer, 48 hours before any other contact could be made. His initial meeting with Aeron had been a special circumstance and had only lasted a short time. Since then they had been waiting to hear full details from the new Kelownan.

"Major Davis just completed his investigation. He wants to de-brief us with General Hammond in 30."

"I'll be right up." Jonas said and Sam nodded leaving him to get ready for the Meeting.

_SGC 08:25 MST, The Briefing room _

"Major Davis what is your assessment?"

"As you all are aware it's impossible to directly check her story, as we no longer have any link to the Langaran home-world."  
"We have however, verified that she retains knowledge unique to a person in high standing within the Kelownan council. Most of the information she provided has revealed her to be a very resourceful agent, who held powerful positions within at least three independent governments. Whether or not she was exactly loyal to one, if any, has yet to be determined."

"What can you tell us about the dramatic political shift in the defense policies of that world."

"From what we've gathered, Miss Quinn's main job was to amass intelligence information for the Tiranian government. Much of what she discovered was inconsequential in the progress on the Tiranian campaign but she did ultimately gain intelligence about the stargate and eventually the plans for the Naquadria bomb. " The team grimaced in understanding, they knew full well what the distribution of those plans amongst the nations enemies foreshadowed.

Davis further explained. "The knowledge of the stargate, strained any peace talks and the Tiranian's attacked the Kelownan capital. That is when Miss Quinn and her fellow operatives obtained plans for the Naquadria bomb. The Tiranian's quickly put together a plan of action to create a weapon of their own and destroyed the Kelownan capital in an effort to find the Naquadria to fuel it." Jonas breathed out loudly at this and Davis paused to give him some time to assimilate the information.

"It was during this strike that Miss Quinn realized that the Tiranian politics did not necessarily agree with her own. Making a decision she orchestrated the escape of a small contingent of scientists and three Kelownan council members. During that escape two of the council members perished leaving only Miss Quinn and High Chancellor Vinril."

There were a few nods at the table as they recognized the corroboration of what she had told them in her during the first contact with the Kelownan.

"Merely eleven months later Tiranian forces fired their 'modified version' of the original Naquadria bomb, although it was not quite the weapon the Kelownan's originally intended it had a devastating effect. This weapon initiated the fall of the Kelownan government and soon after Andari as well. Needless to say this put increasing stress on those still standing in opposition to the Tiranian government."

"Miss Quinn has informed us that during the time leading up this political action, she remained underground with Councilmen Vinril working on repairing the stargate. According to her Council member Vinril believed contact with earth to be the only way to save the planet. Shortly before the completion of the gates repair Vinril was captured and executed by a small contingent of Andari soldiers. Leaving Miss Quinn to finish the project alone. Shortly after his death information was gathered that seemed to suggest other governments had attained access to the Kelownan weapon, Miss Quinn, states that after gaining this Intel she believed it impossible to save her world and made plans to contact earth in order to, if nothing else, contact Jonas Quinn and inform him of the unfortunate turn of events."

"And . . ." Jack asked questioningly, "No offense to Jonas, but, are we just supposed to believe her?"

"Miss Quinn, was not invited here empty handed, she did provide documentation and Intel that seem to verify her claims." Davis revealed. "I have included this documentation as well as further details, in my report." Davis responded.

"What about the weapon she mentioned?" Jack asked.

"Apparently, she discovered some ancient Langarin texts while spying on the Andari's that she believes are plans for a protective device or weapon used against the goa'uld early in Kelownan history. She however cannot translate the early Kelownan language but is certain Jonas can."

Everyone looked at Jonas "I haven't seen the texts but I did my undergraduate work on several of Langara's dead languages."

"Very Good, Jonas I want you to work on translating those texts as soon as we convene. I'd like to know exactly what we are dealing with." The General ordered, before turning back to the Major, "Major Davis, what is your final valuation of Miss Quinn?" General Hammond asked.

"Officially, she seems to be what she claims, unfortunately that also happens to be a spy and turncoat. I would label her as suspect until we have further study of her. That means restricted intelligence access and limited mobility within the base I would also like to assign a security detail for the time being."

The general nodded his head in understanding and acceptance bit from the other side of the table Jonas spoke up.

"Normally I would understand this procedure, but she doesn't exactly have anywhere to go to divulge information. Our planet's stargate has been destroyed and our planet may shortly follow it. She has been upfront with us from the beginning. I hid information from my own government and you trusted me. Why can't you give her the same opportunity?" Jonas said somewhat offended in Major Davis's remarks.

"Mr. Quinn, with all due respect, your relative positions within your former government were very different. Please do not forget that while you made decisions based from your experience as a scientist she made hers as a soldier. And although related you have not seen your sister in 20 years, you cannot say exactly what her intentions may be." The general stated firmly.

Jonas slowly shook his head. "But she had no other choice, she was a casualty of war."

"Jonas, stand down." Jack ordered. Sensing the younger man's frustration building. "The general just wants to be careful, you know that."

"The colonel is right. If you truly believe your sister's intentions to be good then she also will understand our trepidation in trusting her." Davis added.

Jonas pursed his lips and scrubbed his chin in frustration. He knew they were right but it made him crazy. He just wanted the opportunity to share with all that he had learned since coming to the earth, to give her hope. But he knew with her restrictions and his highly sensitive work he would have to be careful and would not be able to share anything with her for the time being.

"I understand." Jonas said finally.

_SGC 21:15 MST, The Briefing room _

Jonas stirred fitfully in his sleep, his mind fraught with nightmares. The room vibrated with energy it pulsed in and out mimicking the heartbeat of the unconscious man. The desk lamp that glowed from a far corner eerily lit his face, which was beaded with sweat. Next to the lamp on the desk, two canopic jars danced with the vibration that filled the room, joining in with the other jumping items left loose in the room. A slight gasp escaped the dreamers' lips and as if on signal, suddenly all the objects in the room quieted, his rigid and fighting body relaxed and the pulsation stilled. Merely a moment later, as if lifted by some unseen force, the loose items that surrounded him in his quarters began to slowly rise from there resting places. Moments ticked by and the objects levitated, defying all gravity and known science.

From another room a muffled explosion broke through the silence and immediately klaxons began their ear-shattering wail.  
Jonas woke with a start and in the same instant every item that had previously floated around him crashed unceremoniously to their respective surfaces.

It took him a minute to gather his senses. His dreams lost their grip on him and faded to the back of his mind as alarm pushed itself to the forefront. There had been an explosion! The broken items and the disarray of his things made him conclude incorrectly that the blast must have been close to his quarters. He quickly scrambled from his bed, discarding his night clothes and dawning a more appropriate dress before heading out the door.

"Sargent what happened?" He called out to the airman who was hurrying by. "There was a malfunction in the lab, small fire."

Jonas ran to catch up with him "Was anyone hurt?" he asked worryingly.

"No there were no personnel in the area." The airman replied before ushering a quick "excuse me sir" and brushing past Jonas into the smoke filled Lab not far ahead.

Jonas slowed to a stop as he saw that everything was well covered and the first response team was doing their duty. Knowing his presence wasn't needed he slowly turned away from the scene and turned back towards his own quarters. As he walked he passed an open doorway and suddenly stopped his mind recognizing something odd. He backed up a few steps and looked into the empty room. It was another airmen's sleeping quarters and it to seemed filled to the brim with knick-knacks and personal effects. Nothing out of the ordinary, everything was perfectly arranged and in it's place. But that is exactly what bothered Jonas; this room lay only two doors from the blast origination, while his own chamber, was much further, at least seven rooms distance. His mind puzzled over the haphazard state in which he left his room and this new evidence that seemed to contradict his original reasoning.

"Can I help you sir?" Came a question from behind him. Jonas broke from his reverie and awkwardly realized he was blocking the entrance of the room's occupant.

"Oh sorry," Jonas mumbled quickly moving and allowing entrance to the young soldier who in return gave him a suspicious glance. Jonas tried to think of a way to explain his seeming voyeurism, but only succeeded in making things worse as he stood awkwardly, saying nothing. The airmen crossed his arms impatiently. "Um, I have to go." Jonas stumbled out with a sheepish smile and then turned on his heel back towards his own quarters.

As he left he heard the now really perplexed soldier disregard him with a word. "Aliens."

Back at his quarters Jonas surveyed the damage that he'd left. There were a few pieces of paper and errant pencils on the floor along with his entire supply of fish food. On his desk the canopic jars he had found on P34-X78 lay shattered next to his overturned lamp. Jonas sighed at the sight he hated to see the history that the artifacts represented and now lost. Around the room things seemed to have shifted or turned over. But Jonas noticed with puzzlement that none of the pictures that hung on the wall had moved, something he would have expected with a concussive blast.

His next thought was that maybe someone had broken in while he had slept and riffled through his things. But looking at the broken jars and overturned objects he was sure he would have woken to such a ruckus. Jonas was stymied. He sat on the edge of his cot and rubbed a hand on the back of his neck as he felt a headache coming on. He looked at the clock and realized it was almost 07:30 hundred and remembered that he was meeting Teal'c and Sam for breakfast in 30 mins. He pushed his mystery away for the moment and went to work picking up its pieces.

_SGC 21:15 MST, The Briefing room _

"Apparently there was an energy surge in the lab the team is still working on pinpointing its origin but I ordered a full diagnostic on the labs systems this morning just in case so I can't stick around. I just wanted to let you guys know." Sam said holding an orange juice, banana and granola bar to her chest in preparation for her departure to her lab.

"Do you need any help?" Jonas asked having just sat down at there habitual table.

"Nah I've got it you can stop by after breakfast if you like though." Sam said absently as her intelligent mind was already dancing with probable causes to the earlier incident. "See ya." She said pushing her chair and heading out of the mess hall.

Jonas smiled after her knowing the feeling. "So Teal'c good kel-no-reem?" Jonas asked pouring syrup over his pancakes.

"It was." Teal'c responded. "Were you awakened by the disturbance this morning?" He asked his eating companion.

"Yeah, actually. In fact I thought it was closer to me than it was . . ." Jonas replied through half bites.

"How so?" Tealc inquired his head tilting a centimeter as if to emphasis his interest.

"I don't know I mean doesn't make any sense but my room was a mess this morning I thought it was from the blast, but . . ."

"Nice one Jonas, I'll have to remember that one next time I don't clean my office." Jack interrupted, joining the two men at the table with his own food-laden tray.

Teal'c mouth quirked in mirth and Jonas shook his head with playful denial catching the joke.

"No mountain of food today?" Jack asked the younger man, eyeing his lonely looking pancakes on the tray.

"Yeah, headache." Jonas explained.

"Janet." Was Oneill's reply.

"It's really not that ba . . ."

"Hey, I'm not asking. I'm ordering. This is the third headache you've had since yesterday, and I'm tired of keeping track." Jack commanded.

"Jonas Quinn have you seen your sister since our debriefing yesterday?" Teal'c asked changing the subject.

"Not yet. It's kind of hard to know what to say since my life here is 'classified' and I don't remember growing up with her. So that leaves us to talk about the war or the day she died and lets just say I'm not exactly jumping at the thought of those conversations." Jonas replied poking at his pancake.

"Perhaps, you are not allowing the opportunity to find another topic in which to communicate."

"Yeah maybe."

"Sooo" Jack started slowly, "You don't remember anything about her?"

"Not really." Jonas was silent for a moment he really did not want to have this conversation now and he could hear Colonel O'neill's suspicion hidden in his voice.

"Will, you work with Miss Quinn on the translation of the ancient Kelownan texts?" Teal'c asked pressing his earlier topic.

Jonas began again his voice too upbeat. "I don't really know, but I have to get going I want to see if Sam needs help pinpointing the cause of the energy surge from earlier." Jonas said quickly standing he grabbed his tray with it's half eaten contents and headed away, calling "See you guys later." behind him.

Jack looked at the retreating man's back and then exchanged a glance with Teal'c "Touch-y." He said summarily.

"Indeed." Came the response.

_SGC 21:15 MST, The Briefing room _

They were suspicious of her. She had expected that but still the restrictions they had enforced were annoying. After her laborious two-day conversation with the dull Major Davis; he had left, only to return a few hours later to notify her of her limitations. Since then she had lain on the military bed provided to her and re-thought her plan. She thought back to her first contact with Jonas Quinn, when he had hugged her in the holding cell. In that moment she knew he still had his powers but she could also sense that they laid dormant and unknown to him. During their exchange she waited for an appropriate moment to initiate an awaking within him. He was very sensitive, and yet his weakness gave her the perfect opportunity. She saw that he blamed himself for her supposed death and she took that moment to cast the spark. Reaching out as if in comfort she put her small hand over his. In that instant she instigated his dormant powers back to life. 'Like flipping a switch,' she thought. He and his hidden counterparts were none the wiser. In fact she truly believed it had cast a bit more believability to her story.

Soon, she knew, he would begin to change. His powers would come back to the surface and he would realize his old self. She had gathered that he still did not remember their past. It amazed her. He truly did not understand his significance and he also did not remember his role in her death. She remembered. It was what had propelled her to find him after all this time.

_"AERON NO!" Jonas cried out from across the room. Aeron ignored his call concentrating only on killing the man before her. The man lay on the floor grasping his head, his faced lined with excruciating pain._

"Please!" Jonas called out again. Aeron turned to him her eyes black with evil intent. "They deserve to die." She said without feeling and turned back to the man who was beginning to scream the end closing in on him.

Suddenly she found herself on the floor on her back and her mental connection was broken her malicious task incomplete.  
She quickly sat up realizing who had attacked her. Jonas was now a few feet from her kneeling over to attend to the fallen man. He stood when she did, and turned to her tears of fear and disbelief welling in his eyes. "You killed him." He said brokenly and looked at her.

"You are weak." She said with disgust.

Their eyes locked and Jonas pleaded with her psychokinetically "This is not our purpose, we must help these people."

"It may not be your purpose, but I am not so poorly designed." She responded in her mind. In that moment she felt Jonas reach in further and realized as his eyes widened with alarm that he had found her hidden intent.

Knowing he would do everything he could to prevent her plans she took advantage of his moment of shock and sent out a bolt of energy knocking him across the room. "It's nice to know you care," she said to his crumpled form, which lay incapacitated against a far wall.

Stepping over the man she had so recently killed she crossed the room and approached the large machine that occupied it. Touching the panel she could feel the call of the powerful crystals that ran it's systems under her small fingers. 'What a waste' she thought knowing what power those crystals really held. The power she would soon weld. She smiled and began to input the right sequence that would release the crystal core from it's housing. After a few moments there was a small noise a hissing and clicking and from the center of the long panel an opening appeared. Aeron reached her slight arms out to retrieve the crystals from there home, annoyed at her short stature. But finally she had them. She ginned widely at the faceted surface she held, eager to begin the transference of energy. But before she could begin the crystals were pulled from her grasp by an unseen force. She looked to where she had left her brother. Jonas now stood holding her crystals in his hands. Blood dripped from a wound on his head into his eye.

He looked at her steadfastly, "I will not let you do this Aeron." He affirmed. And swiftly he hurled the crystal down against the floor where it shattered, pieces scattering across the shiny surface.

"NOOOO." Aeron screamed. She lunged at Jonas and he met her halfway. They mimicked one another as they both stretched out there arms channeling all their will against the oncoming party. Bright light surged around them; every ounce of power each held was used as they both tried to upset the balance of their abilities and gain the upper hand. The struggle was too even and as they fought the earth below them began to tremble, cracks and fissures appearing from the tumult.

'We have to stop we will tear this place apart!' he said to her mentally. 'I care not.' She replied struggling against his force of will. 'We could die.' He reasoned. 'I will not die.' She replied with arrogance.

_The light continued to grow with the struggle and with it the earthquake increased until it's roar and the light seemed to encompass everything. She felt her will begin to falter; it could not be, he could not be stronger than she! She began to worry that perhaps he was right and that she would die and then without notice she was lost in a sea of darkness._

_When she woke she had found herself pinned beneath a heavy beam lying amongst an incredible amount of destruction. She was in such pain. She tried to use her power to push the object from her but the familiar internal flow did not appear. Her powers were gone! She did not fathom how it could be_.

I took her years to understand how it had happened but she finally realized that he had taken it from her. Over time some of it had returned, the Naquadria had helped but it wasn't enough she wasn't even half as powerful as she had been as a child. But that would change now that she had found him again. All she had to do was wait until his powers resurfaced then she would take back what was rightfully hers and make him pay for his betrayal.

_To Be Continued . . ._


	2. Chapter 2: Strength lost and Found

**A/N: I'll be the first to admit, I am not a writer, but I haven't seen a lot of new Jonas fics and though the show may be over his story continues on in my head. Also, reviews are great and I crave them. I also pathetically check my story everyday to see if there a new reviews so for all those who have reviewed thanks for the encouragement it helps :D**

_SGC 14:05 MST, Jonas's Office_

Jonas roughly scrubbed his face. It was 2:00 in the morning and he had yet to have even developed a cursory translation of the texts Aeron had brought with her. More like fragments rather than whole documents, time and entropy had taken ahold of the parchments making about 65% of the text virtually unreadable. The linguistics and archeological departments had done their best to restore the areas that looked they might have some salvageability but even after they had exhausted every skillset and technology available, the manuscripts were still incomplete. What made it worse is that what little pieces Jonas had been able to translate seemed to indicate that these documents were actually another early historians translation of an even older text. Making some sections very difficult to decipher without the source text and/or some perfunctory knowledge of the ancient historian.

Jonas tried to concentrate in on the paper in front of him but his eyes were having trouble focusing. He was exhausted, but his stubbornness in solving the ancient puzzle, wouldn't allow his mind to rest. Jonas squeezed is eyes shut and then opened them blinking rapidly, hoping to clear his vision. He looked at his notes; there were definite mentions of the goa'uld and of a weapon, there were even some areas that looked like mathematical equations, Jonas made a mental note to discuss those areas with Sam, but ultimately he knew gleaning anything of logistic importance from the text was a pipe dream.

Jonas sighed in frustration, and pushed his rolling chair away from his desk, shifting in his seat until his head rested against the back of the chair. From what he understood his sister had offered these pieces as a bartering tool to gain asylum, but it looked like they were not quite the amazing find she had presented them to be. It made sense. Langara was falling apart, her only escape was earth and she needed a bartering chip. So she sold them a story, a story about a weapon that was top secret, a weapon that was so powerful the goa'uld had no way of defending against it, a weapon that had allowed Langara to exist without worry of attack or domination by another species since. It was an intriguing story, but her basis held little water, and her proof was a few pages of disintegrating notes from an unidentified historian, that were too incomplete to truly translate.

He should have gone to bed hours ago, but he couldn't. He wanted to believe that it was curiosity that propelled him to continue what seemed to be a fruitless endeavor, but in truth it was his need to make these texts as meaningful as Aeron had originally presented. If he was really honest, the moment he realized the texts were ultimately useless he had felt a crushing sense of disappointment about his sister. Jonas barely knew her, but for some reason he expected more from her. It was strange he felt connected to her and had expectations of her, but in reality she was a total stranger to him.

When he'd first meet her and realized she was alive, he had been elated. But, now three days later he found himself looking for ways to avoid her, not that that was a difficult feat between his work and her restrictions on the base. She seemed so ready to pick up the pieces but Jonas couldn't sort out his feelings to start the conversation. He was drawn to her but afraid of her; no, not afraid of her, wary was more the feeling.

Jonas could tell the team was worried about him and he hated that, the last thing he wanted was SG-1 on their tiptoes around him. Sam had wandered in to his office a few times asking how the translation was going but Jonas knew she was probing for info on how he was doing. Jonas didn't take the bait. Jack was avoiding him; a typical response from the colonel when it came to matters that leaned on the emotional side and Teal'c was becoming ironically annoying in asking all the tough questions point blank every time they were in the same vicinity.

Jonas decided he hated this whole situation, but he felt he had to find a solution. Unlike the colonel, Jonas had never been good at avoidance therapy. He considered if he should visit with Aeron in the morning and try to stimulate some sort of conversation, he knew the longer he stayed away the harder it would be to approach the subject.

"You still up?"

Jonas shot up from his reclining position with a start, almost causing his chair to topple over in response to his sudden movement. Sam chuckled lightly at his surprise, from the doorway.

"Sorry, Jonas I didn't mean to startle you."

Jonas got ahold himself quickly somewhat embarrassed at getting caught stuck in his own reverie. "No it's fine, really . . . I was just thinking about the translation."

"Any luck?" Sam asked entering the office and plopping her self in a vacant chair.

Jonas shook his head in dismay, "To tell the truth, I don't think there is anything here" he said waving his hand dismissively above the smattering of papers and books on his desk.

Sam recognized his undercurrent of frustration and pulled her chair closer a thoughtful look on her face. "Jonas, when we let Aeron on Base we knew her argument was somewhat thin, but it was a smart play she knew she needed to convince us she was important enough to warrant escape."

Jonas anxiously rubbed his chin, "yeah but, it just seems so . . . so, selfish. I mean out of so many people she is the only one who escaped." His voice rose with raw emotion as he continued. "She made it possible for Langara to destroy itself just as much as I did. We helped initiate the self-destruction of our world, if anyone deserved to suffer the consequences of that, it's us, yet, we escape?! How does that make sense? How is that right?" His green eyes looked directly into Sam's blue eyes, his jaw trembling with the effort of keeping back a flood of unwanted emotion.

Sam was a bit taken aback, he had been relatively quiet and even-tempered about everything up till now and she hadn't been expecting his sudden transparency. Sam spoke softly trying to abate the man's current sensitive state. "Jonas, you have to stop blaming yourself for this. You did not initiate the difficulties between your countries, that animosity existed before you were born. Your role in this was a by-product of the culture you were brought up in. And regardless of the destructive direction that your world has taken you and I both know you have always worked towards a peaceful solution."

Jonas shook his head and looked away from Sam trying reign in his agitated demeanor not wanting to breakdown in front of his teammate, but, his painstakingly built wall was crumbling and he knew that he had to get this out. He turned back to her, his eyes beginning to glisten with unshed tears, but his face was painted in barely controlled anger. "I helped develop the weapon that caused the destruction. At the time I thought I was doing the right thing, I was convinced it was the only way to stop the bloodshed. I believed our leaders would never truly use it, that its existence would give us the logistical upper hand and force a peaceful truce. But I was wrong; I underestimated the power mongering and malice of my race. And that's why I can't absolve myself from this." Jonas looked down at his feet, "No matter how I spin it, I helped create this, and, I have battled that decision since I left, stupidly hoping they would find a way to resolve matters. I was wrong, and I was a . . . coward." Jonas's breath hitched his vice gravely and he looked up and away from Sam. "I don't want to accept it, I don't want to believe it, but the truth is Dr. Jackson died for nothing."

Sam had been calmly listening up to this point but at Jonas's last statement, Sam felt anger flare up in her and before she could stop herself she slapped Jonas across the cheek. The strong reaction was unexpected and it shocked her, looking at Jonas she saw that he too was shocked, his eyes wide.

Silence hung in the room for a moment as they both tried to regroup from the outburst. Sam spoke first, "Jonas, I'm sorry, I didn't mean, I mean I didn't expect to . . ."

Jonas interrupted her "No, Sam it's okay, you're right I deserved it and I needed it." Jonas rubbed his cheek lightly and then gently grabbed Sam's hand. "I'm sorry I shouldn't have said that, I was upset. I guess this has affected me a lot more than I realized."

"I'm sorry too, I guess this has affected me too, and I think you saying that, coincided with my own thoughts. I'd hate to believe that Daniels death was for nothing, but the truth is, no matter what my emotions say, it wasn't. Whatever happens with your planet Daniel died doing what he believed was right and that's what made him who he was." Sam said a little more stable now.

Jonas nodded his head in agreement. Jonas felt better ironically, Sam's unexpected cuffing and thrown him out of his self-pity. "You know that's the second time you've slapped me, but the first time I really deserved it." Jonas said with a slight smile on his lips.

Sam laughed lightly grateful for his proffered levity.

_SGC 06:00 MST, Base Gymnasium_

The next day, Jonas felt much better, and decided to visit Teal'c for a morning sparring session. He truly enjoyed sparring against the warrior, although he knew he'd never gain the ultimate advantage over the stronger man, bumps and bruises aside, he always felt great afterward.

Teal'c was already waiting on the mat sitting in a preparatory kel-no-reem as was his custom. Jonas walked up to the wall and grabbed two sparring sticks.

Teal'c opened his eyes, "Jonas Quinn are you certain you wish to spar today? Major Carter informed me that you did not acquire your normal amount of rest last night."

"Not afraid of me are you Teal'c?" Jonas joked tossing one of the spears to the seated man who caught it one handed a clear expression of his abilities.

"I am afraid for _you_ Jonas Quinn, a sleep deprived warrior is a risk to himself." Teal'c said standing and readying his stance.

"Don't worry about me, after all it's my risk to take." Jonas charged back, enjoying the verbal sparring with his teammate. Jonas readied himself and the two men circled each other on the mat.

Teal'c stuck out first his stick hitting Jonas's stick with a sharp crack. Jonas wasn't normally so quick to the draw when came to his defense of that particular attack and Teal'c raised an eyebrow at his quick reflex. Teal'c decided to raise the bar and threw out a series of difficult attacks against the younger man. Jonas parried all his moves with an abnormal agility.

Jonas saw that Teal'c was momentarily caught off guard by his unwarranted success and took the advantage. Striking out Jonas delivered a volley of attacks against Teal'c who barely was able to belie the unexpected offense. For an intense and unusual moment both parties seemed to be matched equally, trading blows that could not find a mark. Winded by the effort both men backed off for a respite circling each other their sparring sticks readied.

"Perhaps you should not fulfill your needed sleep cycle, more often, Jonas Quinn" Teal'c said impressed, as he circled his friend.

Without a response, Jonas drew a quick breath and initiated another attack, his stick spinning and jabbing with speed and grace that Teal'c the more able warrior found difficult to follow. A sudden jab and Teal'c felt the end of Jonas's sparring stick under his right rib cage and just as quickly it disappeared and he was hit across his shoulders. Teal'c stumbled forward by the force barely catching himself before he fell face first on the on the mat. Jonas backed off his expression confused.

"Teal'c, come on, are you feeling okay?" Jonas asked unsure of how he'd gotten the upper hand over the skilled man.

"I assure you am well, I am not however certain of how you have gained the advantage." Teal'c acquiesced standing upright.

Jonas stood still on the mat his face filled with bewilderment. "Well, you are being pretty transparent T, I can see every move your going to make in your stance." Jonas stated bluntly expecting the other man to clearly see the obvious help he gave Jonas. "I don't know why you are going so easy on me today, it's usually extremely difficult from me to see that."

Tealc's eyes narrowed, "Jonas Quinn, I assure you, I am making an extreme effort to hide my intentions from you."

Jonas was dumbfounded at his friend's assurance. For some reason this session had been super easy, it felt as if Teal'c was giving him a play by play of his intended attacks and allowing him plenty of time to parry them.

Teal'c noticed Jonas's perplexity and momentary contemplation and decided to test the younger man. In that instant Teal'c began an attack that in all his experience had almost never been successfully opposed and that he knew was very difficult to recover from.

But before his stick had come a centimeter within Jonas's sight Teal'c found himself on his back with Jonas's staff against his neck. Stunned, both parties remained motionless for a moment trying to figure out what had just transpired as it happened quicker than either of them had time to register.

Jonas looked down at Teal'c with wide eyes. "Well, that wasn't normal." He said clearly freaked out at his sudden ability.


	3. Chapter 3: Small mysteries

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! Here is a another chapter to show my gratitude to all my awesome readers. Keep reviewing, constructive criticism is always appreciated!

* * *

"General you wanted to see us?" Jack said, entering the conference room with Sam. In the conference room General Hammond, Teal'c, Dr. Frasier and Jonas sat waiting.

"Yes Colonel, there is something you all need to see." The general said as the two took their places at the table. After everyone was seated the general turned to a monitor at the head of the table. Without further ado he hit play.

_The bases gym flashed on the screen. From the overhead angle they saw Teal'c seating in an obvious kel-no-reem position. Jonas entered the frame and went to the far wall grabbing a sparing stick and tossing one to Teal'c on the mat. The men then prepared to fight, circling each other. Teal'c took the offensive his ability and grace impressive to behold, Jonas countered quickly glancing off a powerful attack. Teal'c seemed taken aback at the nice block, for a split-second but in that moment Jonas lunged and proceeded to deliver a volley of attacks against Teal'c Jonas's own ability surprisingly matching that of his counterpart. The two separated once more and then after a moments respite continued this time Jonas moved with an even more overwhelming speed and agility finishing his volley by almost knocking Teal'c to the ground. The two men on the video separated for a moment speaking soundlessly to each other. Jonas looked down in thought and in that moment, the group watched as Teal'c attempted to catch the younger man off guard. In a fraction of a second, without looking up, Jonas impossibly caught Tealc's staff as it came at him. In one fluid motion Jonas used the other mans staff to counter balance himself and with what seemed like an inhuman speed Jonas disarmed Teal'c and took him to the ground one-handed._

The screen ended playback and everyone looked at Jonas, floored by the amazing display they had just witnessed.

"I can't explain it." Jonas said just as confused as they were.

"Maybe it's a fluke." Jack suggested somewhat unbelieving even after the evidence before them.

"Jonas Quinn and I did continue our sparring, his abilities further increased beyond my own with each match." Teal'c responded clearly intrigued by the thought that Jonas had gained such ability in such a short time.

"So you're saying Jonas is stronger than you now?" Jack re-stated in simplified terms.

Jonas interjected, trying to explain what he didn't quite understand himself. "It was more like I knew what he was he was going to do before he did, a kind of enhanced sense. It was so natural I thought Teal'c was letting me win at first."

"Maybe Teal'c was having an 'off' day." Jack suggested hanging on to his disbelief.

"Colonel that's not all, when I did that," Jonas dismissively waved a hand at the screen, "I was as surprised as all of you, but it did make me realize that it wasn't the only strange thing that's happened in the last few days" Jonas looked at Sam. "Remember the unexplained power surge a few days ago?"

"The explosion." Sam clarified.

Jonas nodded. "Right, well the night that happened, something woke me up and my quarters were a mess. At the time I thought the concussion from the blast had been the cause. Well, I later found out the blast hadn't been large enough to cause a concussion." Jonas grabbed the remote the general had left on the table. "So, out of curiosity this morning after my 'experience' with Teal'c I searched the security tapes of my quarters and this is what I found." Jonas hit play on the remote.

_The screen changed filling with the image of Jonas's quarters. Jonas was caught in fitful sleep in his bed and the room around him seemed to vibrate with energy, loose items jumped with pulsating regularity. After a minute or two Jonas stilled in his bed and the vibration stopped in response. In the next few seconds however the previously vibrating items suddenly lifted and began to float upward from their respective places. They floated, gaining altitude every few seconds, until, with a start Jonas awoke sitting bolt upright in his bed and the previously airborne items crashed quickly back to earth._

Jonas stopped the video.

There was a moment of stunned silence.

"You caused the explosion." Sam announced breaking the quiet, her missing puzzle piece at last fitting into place.

Jack looked from Sam to Jonas and back to Sam, "I might regret asking this, but um, how?" he asked inanely.

Sam returned the Colonel's gaze and explained. "I couldn't pinpoint the source of the energy build-up, I checked every system I could think of for some sort of cascading failure, but I couldn't find anything. It was like the energy surge had come from nowhere." Sam rationalized emphatically, "But it must have been Jonas. Whatever energy he was subconsciously emitting went from regulated to unregulated and when woke up and he must have accidentally released it."

"So why did it blow up the lab and not Jonas's room?" Jack questioned.

"Energy can't be stored." She paused for a moment searching for a close analogy, "It's like bolt of lighting. When the elements are just right for lightning to appear, a mass of energy builds up and that energy can only develop to a point, before it needs to be quickly released. So it looks for the least path of resistance in the most conductive areas. If we conclude it's the same with Jonas, his energy found the path of the least resistance, via the electrical lines connecting the rooms and it expelled its energy in the Mechanics lab."

"Ah." Jack said. Everyone turned back to looking at Jonas who began to get uncomfortable.

"Major Carter, if we assume Jonas was the reason for the explosion, do you believe this energy represents a danger to the base?" The general questioned.

"It's difficult to say, but, I'd like to run some tests of my own with Jonas's help, just to be sure it isn't." Sam suggested.

"Agreed, Major." The General said approvingly.

"So . . . what's next? Can you read my mind? Do you know what I'm about to . . ." Jack started but Jonas interrupted. "No."

" . . . say." Jack finished, raising an eyebrow at Jonas's seemingly preemptive finish.

Jonas continued, "It's like I told Dr. Frasier, I don't feel any different, aside from the headaches and what happened this morning I feel normal. I mean, i've been tired lately but with everything that's been going on that's not out of the ordinary."

"Dr. Fraiser, did some preliminary tests." The General interjected. "Doctor?"

Dr. Fraiser addressed the group. "Well besides a slight temperature, dehydration and some exhaustion we have yet to find anything abnormal, although Jonas _has _been complaining of headaches over the past few days. We were not however able to complete an MRI or CAT scan. When we tried to run those tests my machines, out of nowhere, stopped functioning properly. I've run every test I can think of to diagnose the problem and aside from when they are scanning Jonas, they are perfectly operational. I have no choice to conclude that somehow Jonas is . . . blocking my ability to scan him." Janet said feeling slightly ridiculous even voicing the last sentence.

Sam raised both eyebrows at the statement.

"Last time Jonas had these kind of . . . weird abilities it was Nirtti's doing." Jack stated.

"Without the tests I can't say for sure if we are dealing with the same issue. But there is evidence to suggest it could be somehow related." Janet said.

"Isn't it a little odd to anybody that Jonas starts developing these powers right after his long-lost family member shows up?" Jack asked the group.

"I also feel that the turn of events are a bit more than coincidental." Jonas announced surprisingly seconding his superior. At the looks on everyone's faces he defended his statement. "I'm just saying it's worth looking into."

"I agree with that assessment. Colonel, I would like you and Teal'c to interview Miss Quinn and see what she knows about this but don't give her too much Intel, at this point, we are still treating her as suspect until otherwise cleared. From what Mr. Quinn has informed me her earlier promises were somewhat misleading." The general announced.

"Sir if I may, I'd like to join the Colonel and Teal'c in their interview." Jonas requested eagerly.

"Unfortunately, Mr. Quinn I cannot approve your request. I have discussed recent events with the Doctor and we both it is your best interest, and in the best interest of the safety of the personal of this base for you to be temporarily confined to the infirmary."

"Sir I have to object," Jonas began to argue but the general shut him down, "Son, until we are sure of what it is we are dealing with you will obey my orders is that understood?"

"Yes sir." Jonas replied solemnly.

"Very well. Major carter, you will have to conduct your research in conjunction with Dr. Fraiser in the infirmary."

The General turned to address the room "Let me know as soon as you find anything out. Dismissed."


	4. Chapter 4: We all fall down

Hey all-

Thanks for reading and extra special thanks for reviewing it really helps, so please like or hate it all comments are appreciated and really help me continue. Also much thanks to Kindred Spirit for your enthusiasm, your'e awesome :D Anyway here is the next installment, enjoy!

* * *

"Hiya" Jack said sitting down opposite from Aeron Quinn.

Aeron stared dully back at the man "Am I still a prisoner?" she asked petulantly.

"You're not a prisoner." Jack responded.

"The why am I guarded 24/7? Why are you limiting my movements? Have I done something to offend you earthans?" She asked with annoyance in her voice.

"It's 'earthlings'. And no you haven't offended us we are just being cautious." Jack answered ignoring her obvious irritation.

"If I'm not a prisoner why won't you allow Jonas to see me? I was under the assumption he lived here freely, or are you being 'cautious' with him too?"

Jack sighed, Jonas's and his sister might share similar mannerisms, but she was certainly missing his easygoing personality. "Jonas hasn't come by because he has been wasting a lot of time trying to decipher that fish story you sold us."

"Fish story?" she asked confused.

"We know the documents about the weapon are worthless." He clarified.

Aeron was quiet, she had thought it would have taken them longer to figure out the parchments were insignificant and she had hoped they were deficient enough to have at least been consulted by Jonas, but it seemed she had underestimated their knowledge and Jonas's ability. She considered how to spin this unexpected shift in her plan and how to use it ho her advantage. If she continued to play dumb it couldn't really hurt her. Yet, there was something else, she sensed something was amiss there was worry in the older mans face maybe even fear. It was possible that they had seen through her, but, another thought occurred, perhaps Jonas's powers were surfacing faster than she had anticipated. She decided to try and get the men and the room to give her Intel on the issue.

"They can't be worthless I was told they were schematics on the weapon that rid us of the goa'uld presence on our home world." She defended, "Jonas should have spoken with me."

"So, you _are_ hiding something." Jack stated with the air of a cat about to catch a mouse.

"No. I am perfectly willing to share what I know unlike you earthans!" she recoiled, raising her voice.

"Earthlings, -lings" Jack corrected with exaggerated pronunciation, ignoring her outburst.

"Earthlings" Aeron amended following the older man's articulation.

"Okay then shoot." She stared at him blankly, Jack sighed he really got tired of explaining simple expressions. "It means spill it." He tried, she looked confused, he tried again, "tell us the info."

She could see this man was not going to be easy to manipulate and stalled for time, "I want to speak with my brother, I am tired of being treated like I have committed a crime."

"Why did you track Jonas down?" Jack asked sidestepping her demand and getting to the point.

"You mean besides the fact that he's my brother?" She asked with a bit of annoyance in her voice.

"You put yourself at great risk to see someone you have not known in many years." The dark and more domineering soldier interjected.

She decided to take a different tack, "Listen I don't know how you 'earthlings' view family, but when you lose family on Langara, it's devastating and you'd do anything to see them alive again." She made sure to add a bit of softness and vulnerability to the emotion to her voice as she spoke, "And when you discover that the person you loved is still alive, you pursue that person. Nothing else matters but finding them again."

Watching the men, she could see an imperceptible change in their stance and she knew that it was working. they were letting go of some of their suspicion. She decided to give them a bit of honesty to solidify her hidden deception, "Okay, I lied about the documents, I knew they were too damaged to be helpful but it was my only chance to see him again." She paused, "I also wanted to save myself. Staying on Langara would have meant certain death, I had a chance to live and I took it." She finished looking down in an attempt to show her shame.

Jack wasn't 100% certain that he trusted her yet but had had to admit he was less skeptical of her. Maybe it was because some of her facial expressions looked just like Jonas's; it made their resemblance almost uncanny, and as annoying as Jonas was Jack kinda liked the guy.

She looked up at him with imploring eyes, "It's Jack right? Look, I'm sorry I lied to you all, I understand that you don't trust me, but please . . . please let me see Jonas."

Jack wasn't used to people using his first name and he wasn't sure he liked that she had just done so, but still, he was beginning to feel sorry for the small woman. "Listen," He tried, "no one is keeping Jonas from visiting you. He wants to see you, he's just . . ." Jack paused remembering the scenes that had played out earlier on the security footage, and grasped for a way to explain things, "he's going, through a lot of . . . weird stuff . . . right now." He finished with little aplomb.

Something was going on she could tell, it was time to lay it on thick. "I know this is difficult for him, but it is for me as well." She hesitated, and continued putting every bit of humanity she could into the next sentence. "You two are his friends right? If you're his friends, don't you want him to have a chance to finally have the family he thought he'd lost?" she asked, "Please tell him I want to see him. If you don't want to do it for me, do it for him."

Jack gave her a tight-lipped smile, "I'll let Jonas know, you want to see him." He acquiesced getting up from his chair and turning towards the door.

She could see they had come searching for something, something they hadn't found. Her suspicions were confirmed; Jonas must have started to develop his abilities. Things would only escalate from this point on; and if she was able continue playing innocent and ignorant of what might be happening to Jonas, everything would fall into place. She just hoped that Jonas's new abilities didn't come with a refreshed memory.

* * *

"I can't do it" Jonas said in frustration.

It had been over an hour since they had begun this latest test. Sam had wanted to see if Jonas could levitate objects in a conscious state playing off their knowledge of the abilities Cassandra Fraiser exhibited after experimentation by Niriti.

Nirti. Jonas wondered if that nightmare would ever end. At the time he had valued the usefulness of the ability to see possible futures but not so much the almost dying part, and he really didn't want to go through it a second time. The thought that this might be a recurrence of the genetic manipulation instigated by Niriti and her machine meant, that danger, was once again a possibility.

Still there was no way to be sure. Sam still had yet to uncover why the medical scanners went blank when he was imaged. She said it defied logic and the science. Nonetheless Jonas figured even without that mystery solved, they could at least gauge what new abilities he might be developing. Janet had been hesitant about proceeding with the tests, citing the fact that last time he pushed using his new abilities it had almost killed him. Jonas, however, convinced her to allow them to continue mentioning that he could be in just as much jeopardy if they didn't run any tests and least this way they might be able to figure out something that could lead them to the origination of his new skills. She eventually consented, but only with his reassurance that he would tell her the instant anything hurt. They had also placed him in one of the fortified observation rooms; in order to ensure everyone's safety considering the explosion he had may have caused a day earlier. So here Jonas sat, in a chair wired to the hilt with the lines of Janet's monitoring equipment, a paperweight and the table it sat on for company.

Jonas blew out a breath of frustration. He looked at the pyramid shaped stone in front of him; they had taken it from Janet's office. She volunteered its use after Sam stated she wanted to start with a completely innocuous object for the control test. Jonas squinted at the object, trying to will it to move, but it just sat there and he was beginning to feel stupid at the attempt.

Sam sensed his frustration from the observation room overhead, "Jonas," Sam called through the rooms loudspeaker, "when the levitation happened before, you were is a subconscious state, try to relax, you may be thinking too hard."

Jonas wished it was that simple, but he found it that relaxing was easier said than done. With all the wires he couldn't really sit comfortably, he was cold, as his shirt was off so it wouldn't interfere with the electrodes, not to mention he was being watched from above. He felt like a specimen under glass and he chaffed under the uncomfortable feeling. "I'm not sure that I can." He mumbled.

"Jonas" Dr. Frasier's voice came through the loud speaker, "You may have been dreaming when the levitation occurred try to remember what your dream was, it might trigger something."

Jonas shut his eyes, forcing himself to forget his current situation and search the recesses of his mind. He rarely dreamed and when he did it was typically easy to recall. He had always had an exemplary memory, to the point that he could recall almost anything asked of him no matter how insignificant. Dr. Frasier said it was called a photographic memory on earth. He recognized that it was an advantageous skill to have; yet it was so innate to his process that never really gave it very much thought. Until, he realized, Aeron had arrived.

It was easy to forget that pain and the fact that there was a huge gap of memory associated with it. His whole life he had pushed away any curiosity involving his absence of childhood memory, because thinking on it meant reliving Aeron's death, and that was something he did not want to experience. He recalled discussing it with Dr. Keiran once, less than a year after the incident. But it was the Doctors perspective that if it wasn't caused by the blow to the head he received, most likely, his mind was protecting him from something. Jonas couldn't imagine anything worse than watching your sister die, and realized that whatever horror might be hidden in the recess of his mind he was okay with it staying there. He didn't want to remember, and he was almost happy it was out of reach. Jonas wondered if his recent dream/memory was somehow related to the lost event, and if his nightmares were a subconscious attempt to access it.

Jonas tried to shift his reverie back to his recalling his dream, nightmare or whatever it was. But it was to no avail. His mind was blank. The realization of that spurred on another thought that blossomed into action.

Adjusting as much as he could in his seat, Jonas let out a slow and steady breath mimicking the relaxation techniques Teal'c had taught him for kel-no-reem. He cleared his mind trying to allow the memories to surface on their own.

A minute or two passed and Jonas focused on his breathing, blocking out the rest of the world. Slowly he felt himself disassociate with his current situation. He was floating in space.

Gradually Jonas realized something had changed, he felt was no longer sitting in the observation room, now, he was lying on his back on hard surface and it was much colder here, his skin felt like ice. Jonas opened his eyes trying to get his bearings. But his eyes opened to nothingness, pitch-black, nothingness. Trying not to panic Jonas tried to sit up but found he couldn't move none of his motor functions were responding to his internal commands, he was essentially paralyzed. Fear began to eek into him, Jonas tried work past the feeling to find calm, to remember that he was still at the SGC, that this was just a strange experience. But it was to no avail the fear was overwhelming his sense of logic. Jonas strained to get ahold of things, but the darkness and immobility was suffocating. His fingers and toes began to tingle uncomfortably. Jonas had to get out of this, where were Sam and Janet? Weren't they monitoring him? He tried to call out but as soon as he opened his mouth the blackness around him seemed to pour into it like liquid, choking him. It burned his throat and he tried to gag but he couldn't, the flow of darkness was too much and his body wouldn't respond. His mind screamed in alarm, this was killing him. The tingling he felt earlier began to spread and build running up his arms and legs and into his chest the pressure was immense. He had to breath! He was suffocating he was dying.

In the observation overlook Sam and Janet waited, as Jonas closed his eyes and shifted in his seat, he seemed to be attempting to relax into a more subconscious state. After a minute of this, Janet noted that his heart rate began to even and slow on her monitors.

"Janet, look." San said redirecting her to the window. Below them Janet was amazed to see the paperweight began to lift from it's resting place, rotating lazily as it rose.

Sam felt the hair on her neck begin to rise with the strange phenomenon unfolding in front of them. Both women stood motionless, mesmerized by the scene.

The objects ascent unexpectedly seemed to level out a foot above the table but the speed in which it was spinning increased dramatically. Janet looked at her monitors, Jonas's heartbeat was rising and quickly, too fast to be healthy. At the same time Sam noted the energy in the room levels begin to spike. In that instant, Jonas's calm face suddenly contorted in in pain.

"Sam!" Janet exclaimed in concern. "Jonas! Jonas can you hear me?" Janet called into the speaker hoping to startle the man out of the experiment that was literally spiraling out of control.

Suddenly, without warning the heavy metal table in front of Jonas flipped on its side with a loud clang and slid across the concrete floor. The paperweight dropped to the floor and splintered into a thousand pieces. Simultaneously, Jonas began to rise into the air leaving his chair below him. His prone figure rose till Jonas was level with the height of the observation window. Janet and Sam stared transfixed at there floating friend he appeared immobile his eyes closed and his face a painted in a grimace of pain.

Unexpectedly Jonas's racing heartbeat dropped back to normal, the energy spike also leveled out. Jonas's floated freely in front of them. Everything was eerily still for all but a few seconds when a strange blue light began to radiate from beneath Jonas's skin, tendrils of it crawling up his extremities.

"Sam . . ." Janet asked frightened and stunned at the scene playing out before her. The blue light made intricate and structured trails as it winded its way around Jonas's figure; the light growing as it encircled his body. The light had almost completely enveloped him, when his motionless frame unexpectedly bucked outward, his back arching. Jonas's mouth opened in a silent scream and subsequently the light grew so bright it obscured his figure from view. Both Sam and Janet squinted to see past the brightness, Sam lifting an arm to block the intense beams filtering through the window.

"Jonas." Sam whispered to herself in fear. She wanted to stop this but she didn't know how.

Abruptly the penetrating light began to disappear the previous tendrils fading away and Jonas's figure was again visible as it departed. Within a matter of milliseconds the last beam had gone, and Jonas, like a puppet who's strings had been cut, fell from view. Janet and Sam gasped as Jonas collapsed falling 15 feet to the floor below.


	5. Chapter 5: Down the rabbit hole

**A/N: This chapter posting is all due to Kindred Spirit who's PM to me today helped encourage me to push past me writers block. Thanks for the encouragement please keep reading and reviewing, all constructive criticism is appreciated and craved.**

Aeron sat up suddenly from her assigned bunk.

It had begun. She felt her body begin to tremble with need, a reminder that she no longer retained the powers she so desperately craved. She looked down at her shaking hands, and chest went tight her mind filling with anger. He had betrayed her and taken everything that made her whole. The little visage of power that remained was pitiful compared to the abilities she sensed awakening in her brother. It was wrong that someone so weak minded should have such a gift. He was always caught up in needless compassion towards lesser forms even as children. She remembered his constant preaching to her that she should be kinder more considerate to their guardians.

Just thinking of his constant admonishment made her disgusted. How could he be so short sighted, it was if he didn't see how much they were. She had realized early on that he didn't deserve to be what he was. Whenever he interacted with their guardians she sensed that if he somehow could he would he would have let go of his abilities to become like one of them, weak and insignificant. It was no wonder he so easily forgot his own past. Aeron stiffly lowered her hands to the cot and clawed her fingers into the cloth underneath her, trying to dispel her building anger. She had to regain control if she was ever going to reclaim what was rightfully hers.

She had often thought back to the day when he had taken her powers trying to understand how he had done it, how she could reverse the process. She had determined to play it safe until she could learn more about it, discover a way to take it back. She hadn't initially intended to kill him, being more focused on her loss then what would happen to him, but as time worn the more she liked the idea whether it was required or not. When she saw him that first day on earth, however, some part of her had been hesitant about her malevolent plans and she felt somehow attached to him and wondered if killing him wasn't going to far. But know as she felt the electric buzz inside her that spoke of his powers resurgence and her want grew she knew he deserved to die.

* * *

Jonas awoke to the sound of steady electronic beeping. He felt instantly sick and twisted up from his prone position to avoid choking on the reappearance of his breakfast. A cool hand was suddenly on his neck and a plastic vessel was placed in front of his mouth. Jonas expelled a nasty stream of fluids into the proffered basin, until nothing was left and then laid back feeling very dizzy.

"what . . ." Jonas tried to ask his brain having trouble focusing for the moment.

"it's okay Jonas just try and relax" Dr. Fraisers voice said soothingly.

Jonas felt a cool cloth brush his forehead and opened his eyes. Janet stood above him inserting something into an IV that was attached to his arm. A nurse was close by using a cloth to clean his face. Jonas was instantly embarrassed as he realized the nurse was the one who had just helped him as he retched.

Jonas tried again, more conscious than before. "What happened?"

"Well, we are trying to figure that out." Janet said slowly putting down the empty syringe and gently touching his arm. "Jonas, what's the last thing you remember?"

Jonas knitted his forehead trying to recall his last memories "I was trying to relax so I could levitate that paperweight, I remember trying to use what Teal'c had taught me about kel-no-reem . . . and that's it, that's all I can remember" Jonas refocused his eyes on the doctor, his confusion obvious. "what happened?"

"You successfully levitated the object, and then, well it's hard to explain." Janet said trying to figure out how to describe what she'd witnessed. "after the object, you also began to levita . . . Jonas?" Janet stopped mid sentence in alarm as she saw Jonas's face slip into a grimace of pain.

Jonas felt a wave of pain wash over him it overcame everything; the infirmary and Dr. Fraiser slipped away in the onslaught. Jonas could barely stand it, he tried to call out but his body was paralyzed in the throw of this unknown attack.

"Jonas!" Janet called again as she saw her patient go rigid in pain, quickly she ordered the nurse for another medication to counteract the dose of Promethazine she had just given him for his nausea, worried that he was somehow having an allergenic reaction. The nurse quickly returned but before she could administer the drug, her patient suddenly went slack, the pain he was emitting previously eased from his face. The monitors which a second ago had been screaming with alarms at his flare-up were now leveling to a normal rate.

"Jonas?" Janet called to the still man. Jonas opened his eyes and Janet quickly in took a breath in surprise. His normally green iris's were a vibrant blue that seemed to shift with light.

Janet overcame her momentary fright and tried again, "Jonas can you hear me."

Jonas starred at her his eye unseeing, "There are two men, I think they are ancients they . . . are trying to talk to me but I don't understand them" Jonas said his gaze unfocused.

"Get the General and Carter" Janet whispered to her gawking nurse who hurried quickly away to fulfill the order.

"What makes you think they are ancients?" Janet asked, understanding that Jonas was seeing something maybe in his mind or maybe something else, in her years of experience it was hard to tell but she knew the most important thing was to get as much information as possible form the affected man.

"Aeron is here," He continued ignoring her question. "She's a child, we're both children." He shifted his head as if looking at something that had caught his eye. "We are in a room, it looks like a lab or a hospital, it's familiar, but I don't why." Suddenly Jonas lifted his arm looking at it, he touched it gingerly. "My arm is wrapped in some sort of bandage." Jonas put his arm down and shifted his head back the direction it had been resting previously. "The men are angry with my sister, I don't know why. She's connected to machine and they are doing something to her, she doesn't seem to like it, but I don't think it's hurting her."

"Jonas, how old are you" came Sam's voice from behind Janet. She and the General must have arrived.

"I think I am 8-9 years old, I don't know for sure." Jonas replied finally responding, much to Janet's relief.

"Jonas, are the men still speaking?" Janet asked.

"Not to me but they are talking to Aeron, there language is foreign I don't understand it."

"Jonas is this a memory?" Sam asked tentatively.

"I don't know, I think it is, but I can't be sure, it's strange I am, I mean, I feel very different." I don't know, it's like I am watching this from someone else's eyes but at the same time I know it's me."

"Jonas can you move?" The general asked with curiosity in his voice.

"No, I am also connected a machine."

"Jonas can you describe the machine?" Sam asked with interest.

"It's, it's not like anything I've see. . . AERON!" Jonas suddenly sat up in the bed and called out in a shout his face painted with fear.

"What's happening? Jonas talk us through . . . " Sam began but stopped mid-sentence as Jonas seemed to shut down his body failing limply back against the cushion.

Janet rushed to check on the prone man. The monitor beside him begin to blare with urgency. "He's going into v-fib!" Janet announced with controlled distress, "I need a crash cart!" she ordered, not sparring an instant she quickly went to work efficiently cutting the mans gown in two in preparation. Looking behind her for the appearance of the defibrillator she saw the non-essential personnel still standing around gawking at this turn of events. "Everybody out now!" she ordered with a tone that left no room for argument.

* * *

"Its time for you to tell the truth." Jack said briskly, bursting into Aerons "quarters".

Aeron stood up from her cot, startled by the intrusion, two guards stood behind him. "What's going on?"

"Okay cut the crap." Jack said in frustration. "Your little game isn't gonna work on me. I know you know what's going on with Jonas!"

Aeron was panicked for second, could Jonas have remembered? Did they know? Unsure she decided to play it innocent a bit longer, "What are talking about? What's happened to him!"

Jack, took a moment and considered her reaction, she was either an excellent liar or she really didn't know. He decided to push the envelope a bit and see how she responded. "He is in the infirmary dying right now!" he yelled out, anger in his voice.

Aeron's eyes widened with fear "No! He can't be dying, what do you mean dying, he can't die!" she exclaimed with concern. If the man was telling the truth her only chance of regaining her power was slipping away.

She tried to push past him but the guards prevented her flight "I have to see him, I NEED TO SEE HIM NOW!" She shouted.

Jack felt shame; he had been wrong and had put her through this for nothing. He ignored the niggle of doubt in his mind and gently touched the distraught woman's arm. "I'm sorry, I had to be sure." he apologized gently, his previous mask of anger replaced with compassion. "Jonas, isn't dying but he isn't well, we don't know what's wrong with him."

Aeron sighed in relief slowly recovering from the shock of the false proclamation. This man was very devious and she had been very close to blowing her cover but realized her outburst had played right into her plans. She put on a look of disbelief "How could say something like that?" the humans face was apologetic.

"I'm sorry but your people have lied to us before." 'Not mention the fact that you've also lied to us' Jack added in his mind.

"What's happened to Jonas?" Aeron asked.

"I can't give you any details." Jack stated.

Aeron open her mouth to protest, but Jack cut her off "Before I tell you anything we need to clear some things up." Jack announced, "Tell me about you and Jonas."

"What exactly do you want to know?" She asked.

"Jonas says, he doesn't remember anything before you, um, died. Tell me what happened."

"First of all I didn't die, I don't know why they told Jonas that." She said with annoyance. "Second, my memory isn't much better than Jonas's." she lied.

"Try." Jack said in a voice that left no room for argument.

"Listen, I remember glimpses okay like, like watching our father witling wood." She softened her tone and put an air of nostalgia in her voice. "I don't remember his face but I remember we used to sit around a warm hearth and watch him while he told us stories. I don't remember our mother, for all I know she may have died when we were young. I do remember that Jonas and I were inseparable." She smiled at her fake memory hoping to instill a sense of reality to her deception. "I remember he was always curious and got into a lot of trouble because of it."

'no change there' Jack thought. "Do you remember what caused the explosion?"

"I don't. But I've always assumed it was a shelling. We were close to the fighting and war was always a constant."

"What about two guys? They spoke another language maybe doctors?" Jack probed trying to tie in what Jonas had revealed to them only an hour earlier.

Jonas must have said something, Aeron realized, but it couldn't have been enough to reveal her true intent. She quirked an eyebrow "what are you talking about?" she asked in a confused tone.

"Jonas remembered something. A hospital maybe, his arm was bandaged and there were two men speaking in a foreign language. He said you were there too." Jack leaned shifted in his watching her face closely.

"I don't remember anything like that." She returned her reaction in keeping with her faux confusion. The man was silent she could tell he was debating whether or not to believe her.

"Why are you so sure that I mean harm?" she asked with some exhaustion, "I can't believe you are so distrusting of me. He is my brother I deserve to know if he is unwell."

"It's not like you've given us a lot of choice," he rejoined. "Listen, Jonas is fine for now, I'm sorry to have alarmed you but I needed information, to try figure out what's going on. I can't give more information, it just doesn't work that way, but if you want to help Jonas you'll allow us to run some tests on you."

"You've already run tests, you know Jonas is my brother what more do you need?" She asked with exasperation. Aeron was worried that their tests might reveal too much she had to find a way out of this.

She was starting to get on his nerves again. "Listen," He said trying to be nice, "Something's happening to Jonas and our diagnostic equipment isn't working we need to run some test on you to see if there is any way to help him."

"Okay," She began, an idea springing into her mind. "But only if you allow me to see Jonas."

"No wa…" Jack immediately responded, only to be cut off by the slight alien.

"I have no reason to trust you! You've treated like a prisoner since I arrived I haven't seen Jonas since the day I arrived, I need to know that what your telling me is the truth."

Jack hesitated for moment going back and forth. He wasn't sure he believed her fully but if she was lying about anything she was a damn good actress. "Fine." He acquiesced. "I'll speak with the General."

Aeron smiled inwardly, she had won and know she finally had the opportunity she'd needed.

* * *

Jonas's body lay motionless, monitors swarmed his still frame, Janet had needed to intubate him when he'd crashed and though it was a life saving measure Sam found it difficult to look at his face swathed in tape tube extruding from his mouth. Sam rested her back against her chair. Sam closed her eyes her face grim the current situation kept remaindering her of Daniel before he . . . she stopped herself she didn't want to think about it. This was different something was happening to Jonas and it seemed everything was preventing them from discovering what it was. Sam looked at Jonas's still hand. Gently she grasped it careful to avoid disturbing the IV that pierced it. She silently studied the faint blue markings that had remained since Jonas's experience in the viewing room. They looked vaguely like a circuit board, but yet there was something so alien about them. Since his fall they'd faded quite a bit, but there were enough still showing in certain areas they seemed to create the illusion of an intricate tattoo.

"Nice tattoo." Jack said startling Sam from her reverie and eerily echoing her own thoughts.

"Sir." Sam said letting go of Jonas hand and sitting straighter in her chair.

"How's he doing?" Jack asked. "He's stable. It's not really a tattoo Janet says its looks to be a vascular anomaly."

"Say again?" Jack asked not understanding.

"It's similar to a birthmark." Sam explained.

"Huh, funny, I never noticed it before" Jack joked lamely.

"Well, it's obviously more then that, but we haven't been able to fully get an understanding of what it is." She replied with a sigh. She looked up at him. "Janet says his cell structure is changing."

"What do you mean like morphing into a monster?" Jack asked with hidden worry in his voice.

"Not exactly, his genetic structure is mutating but so far it seems to becoming more complex." She explained.

"What does that mean?" Jack questioned.

"We aren't sure as yet we've only encountered one other instance of this and it's not a lot to go on."

"Ah, yes let me guess, Nirtti." Jack said in dismay.

"Well, it's a possibility she did work with genetic manipulation and this may be the continuation of that process." Sam said her tone a bit faraway as if she was considering something else.

"Why do I get the feeling, there is something else?" Jack asked recognizing her distracted voice.

"Well we found a resemblance in his genetic structure, it's almost a mirror image of Ayiana's genetic marker."

"So he is turning ancient?" Jack asked astounded.

"We aren't sure, it's only a small part of this new structure." Sam clarified.

"So when do you think he'll wake up?" Jack wondered aloud.

"Not for a while Janet's induced a coma, she's worried that these changes are to much for him handle awake"

Sam decided to to shift the subject not wanting to think about his pain. "Did you speak with Aeron?"

"Yep. She's gonna do it, but she wants to see Jonas first." Jack informed her.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? For all we know she could still be connected to this somehow." Sam asked hesitantly.

"I'm not totally convinced but the more I talk to her the more I believe she's on level." Jack acquiesced, surprisingly.

Sam turned back to Jonas's still form. "I hope she can shed some light on this, she may be our only lead."

* * *

TBC


End file.
